East Lubbock charter school planned

A Midwestern educator is planning to open a charter school in East Lubbock next fall.

Rise Academy, the brainchild of Michigan native Richard Baumgartner, was approved by the state board of education in September and is expected to cater to black and Hispanic children.

Baumgartner, a Michigan native, hopes for an initial kindergarten class with 46 students in two classrooms. He wants to eventually expand the school through eighth grade. He also plans to hire two teachers and two teacher's aides.

Another charter school, the Richard Milburn Alternative High School, also is scheduled to open September 1999 in Lubbock. It will target students at risk of dropping out.

Charter schools can eventually be funded with public money based on attendance, but don't face the same requirements as more traditional schools. However, charter school students are required to take the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills test. The charter schools operate independently of local school districts and are usually run by private entities.

Baumgartner, 36, hopes his school will improve the basic skills of black and Hispanic children. Baumgartner, who came to the Lubbock area because of family reasons, said he acquired 250 signatures from East Lubbock residents who support the concept.

''The key I guess is to know that there are parents in the community that have a real interest in it,'' Baumgartner said. ''This is an opportunity for people to exercise choice regardless of their income.''

Baumgartner said the boundaries for the school's service area will be the Lubbock city limits, but that the focus will be on black and Hispanic students. He said students from outside the service area can enroll, but students inside the service area get first priority.

Baumgartner is applying for a $30,000 federal grant to help start the school and is trying to raise about $35,000 more through private foundations.

He said he is currently seeking sites in East Lubbock to house the facility.

Despite the school's focus, he said the school will be open to all races.

''We can't screen students on the basis of aptitude and achievement. I'm going to be very particular in scrutinizing in terms of selection of teachers,'' Baumgartner said. ''The Rise Academy is going to be very demanding.''

The centerpiece of the teaching philosophy will be direct instruction.

He said direct instruction involves a teacher highlighting points of the lessons through gestures such as hand signals or finger snapping to elicit immediate response.

''There's a lot of prompting,'' he said. ''It's very important for children to verbalize.''

The school is also planning to require that students wear uniforms. He said sometimes students can sometimes pay too much attention to one another's clothes.

''I think it's very important to eliminate the factors that can distract children from learning,'' said Baumgartner.

He said parents should take responsibility with the student's transportation to and from school and should review their homework constantly.

Baumgartner taught at an inner-city Chicago private school and founded the Northside Prep School in Kalamazoo, Mich. He said the school was successful educationally and operationally, but that he was ousted because of conflicts with the school's board.

''I was forced to work with a very inexperienced and uncooperative board there,'' he said. ''The real losers were the kids and the parents.''

Unlike in Michigan, the charter school law in Texas allows an employee of the school to be on its governing board. He said that was essential to continue in the school business.

Emma Moragne, a professor emeritus at Ferris State University in Michigan, sent her adopted son to Northside during Baumgartner's tenure.

The Kalamazoo resident said Baumgartner is a highly capable educator.

''He was really loved by the children (at Northside),'' Moragne said. ''I would not be afraid to trust him to do what needs to be done. He gets trust from parents.''